Public works and locally sourced infrastructure: the ‘NIMBY’ syndrome – ‘not in my back garden’ – is flaring up again across the regions
Opposition groups are springing up against renewables, incinerators, landfill sites and data centres. Among them are many mayors, members of the Nimto movement – ‘not on my watch’. Assoambiente, in opposition to ‘local self-interest’, is using the Pimby initiative to highlight the value of infrastructure for the energy transition
Key points
Public works and infrastructure? Not in my back garden – or ‘Not In My Back Yard’ (NIMBY) – which is the full form of the acronym NIMBY, a well-known (social) phenomenon characterised by opposition: ‘No’ committees and local communities opposing projects and developments – more or less on their doorstep – which, they claim, damage local areas, the environment and the landscape.
Opposition from host communities
Against biogas plants, waste-to-energy plants, wind farms on a massive scale and solar power, data centres and various drilling projects, and also against the extreme engineering involved in certain projects that have been in the pipeline for over 50 years (such as the Strait Bridge), host communities are fighting back. Companies and stakeholders often back down, or even give up altogether. There is a lack of common ground: often, opposition to land consumption and the construction of unnecessary buildings prevents disasters and protects urban areas and landscapes. But all too often, blanket ‘no’s’ slow down the necessary ecological transition and the construction of strategic infrastructure.
Nimby in the Piana degli Scrisi
At the end of last summer, over 200 farmers from the province of Vibo Valentia, in the Piana degli Scrisi, halted – through their protests, some of which were desperate – the construction of a large solar panel farm, in order to protect the cultivation of Rosìa wheat, a rare and ancient cereal variety listed in the regional biodiversity register. They had already received notice that their land leases were being terminated. On the other side of the divide was Friel, one of Italy’s leading renewable energy operators, which insisted on the agrivoltaic nature of the project (a €45 million investment). However, the Calabria Regional Government has halted and shelved the proceedings. The risk of irreversibly losing agricultural land proved to be the decisive factor.
The shutdown of data centres: the cases of Ciarlasco and San Bovio
Digital infrastructure too (in Italia, investment is estimated at 37 billion over the next 10 years, according to the recent Ida 2026 report – Italian Datacentre Association) is now in the crosshairs of networks of citizens’ committees opposing its construction: those in Ciarlasco, for example, do not want a 3.5-billion-euro data centre in Lacchiarella, between Milan and Pavia. And they are organising a protest that will continue indefinitely. They believe the energy transition is at risk. And indeed, data centres are facilities that require a high proportion of energy from renewable sources and an enormous amount of water. The committees have also enlisted the support of local mayors in their opposition. In many cases, the scientific communities are also involved.
To protect the historical and natural heritage of the hamlet of San Bovio, the residents of Peschiera Borromeo, in the province of Milan, are also opposing plans for a data centre in a residential green space adjacent to the South Milan Agricultural Park. This poses a threat to local biodiversity and the natural landscape. A petition has been launched and has gathered over 10,000 signatures.
